We're excited to see this
new skill developing for Marty as a kachina carver. We expect
to continue to see great things out of him. Be sure to see his
younger brothers' old style carvings as well!
The Angwusnasomtaka, or Crow
Mother, as she is called, "is a figure of great dignity.
She appears on all three mesas, usually in connection with the
initiation of the children, although she also appears on other
occassions.
At the initiation rites she
descends into the kiva bearing a large number of yucca blades
bound together at the base. She takes a position at one corner
of the large sand painting on the floor of the kiva, with one
of her "sons" on either side of her.
As the candidate is brought
to the sand painting she hands a whip to one of the Hu' Kachinas
who gives the child four healthy strokes with the yucca blade.
When the yucca becomes worn it is handed back to the Crow Mother
who then supplies a new one.
When the initiatory whipping
is over, she raises her skirts and receives the same treatment
accorded the children. They are given prayer feathers and meal
and leave the kiva."
- Barton Wright, Kachinas: a Hopi
Artist's Documentary (66)
Marty Naha Nampeyo is known
together with his wife for their development of the incised redware
(introduced by Elvira's father, Tom Polacca), Marty and Elvira
have nearly perfected the Kachina element captured in each of
their unique pieces.
Both Marty and Elvira come
from a long line of artists, and actually share distant relations
with Nampeyo. (Elvira being the great-granddaughter of Nampeyo)
His heritage and involvement
with daily Hopi culture have given them an advantage. His closeness
with the Hopi way of life is represented as each piece nearly
comes to life in the hands of an onlooker.
Having shown throughout the
Southwest, Marty and Elvira's pottery pieces can be seen in various
galleries as well as publications dealing with elaborate Indian
art. One such collection resides within the Heard Museum, in
Phoenix, AZ. Also featured in the Museum of Indian Arts &
Cultures, Santa Fe, NM.
Together they have appeared
in publications such as Hopi-Tewa Potters by Gregory Schaaf,
p. 101; and Fourteen Families in Pueblo Pottery by Rick
Dillingham, pp. 14-15; and Art of the Hopi by Lois Essary
Jacka, p. 110.
